Wind Turbine Payback in Lassen County, CA
Wind turbine payback in Lassen County
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Lassen County, CA averages 3.6 m/s (8.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 4,736 kWh a year, worth $1,543 at CA's 32.58¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 65 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Lassen County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Lassen County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.4 m/s at the hub against 3.6 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,472 kWh a year here against the turbine's 474, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 106¢/kWh, 3.2 times what CA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.4 m/s instead of 3.6. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of CA
Lassen County is the 2,402nd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in CA is San Francisco County at 6.53 m/s, payback 13 years.
Month by month in Lassen County
March is the strongest month here, at 4.07 m/s and about 591 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.20 m/s and 273 kWh, so the best month makes 2.2 times the worst. November to March brings in 47% of the year's output in Lassen County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.47 m/s | 356 kWh | $116 |
| February | 3.88 m/s | 461 kWh | $150 |
| March | 4.07 m/s | 591 kWh | $193 |
| April | 3.96 m/s | 525 kWh | $171 |
| May | 3.73 m/s | 449 kWh | $146 |
| June | 3.58 m/s | 382 kWh | $124 |
| July | 3.23 m/s | 283 kWh | $92 |
| August | 3.20 m/s | 273 kWh | $89 |
| September | 3.27 m/s | 286 kWh | $93 |
| October | 3.43 m/s | 345 kWh | $112 |
| November | 3.60 m/s | 388 kWh | $126 |
| December | 3.81 m/s | 482 kWh | $157 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Lassen County averages 2.67 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.13 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.271, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 3,305 to 7,248 kWh a year, 119% more, before counting the extra cost of the taller tower. Why tower height decides it explains the shear behind these numbers.
| Hub height | Average wind | Output | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 m | 3.22 m/s | 3,305 kWh | 93 years |
| 30 m | 3.6 m/s | 4,720 kWh | 65 years |
| 40 m | 3.89 m/s | 6,026 kWh | 51 years |
| 50 m | 4.13 m/s | 7,248 kWh | 42 years |
Counties around Lassen County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Modoc County, averages 4.73 m/s.
- Washoe County, NV: 3.61 m/s, 4,778 kWh, payback over 100 years (50 mi)
- Plumas County, CA: 3.24 m/s, 3,367 kWh, payback 91 years (51 mi)
- Modoc County, CA: 4.73 m/s, 10,762 kWh, payback 29 years (61 mi)
- Shasta County, CA: 3.27 m/s, 3,471 kWh, payback 88 years (75 mi)
- Sierra County, CA: 3.32 m/s, 3,648 kWh, payback 84 years (79 mi)
- Butte County, CA: 4.25 m/s, 7,897 kWh, payback 39 years (89 mi)
Sun versus wind in Lassen County
Lassen County gets 5.04 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,472 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 474. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.1 times as much here as the turbine. Panel output assumes an 80% system performance ratio. Wind or solar runs the same comparison for every county.
How this is worked out
Wind is NASA's Power climate record, the 2001-2025 average at 10 m and 50 m for the county's centre, carried to 30 m with this county's own measured wind shear and spread into hours with a Rayleigh distribution. The turbine is a generic 10 kW, 7 m rotor machine with 10% losses. Cost is $10,000 per kW installed with no tax credit, because the federal one ended in 2025. One county-centre number cannot see your hilltop or your tree line, so treat it as the starting point for a site survey, not a substitute. The full method and its weak spots are in how the numbers are made.